Football tombstone graveyard: Story behind who was first.

Oct 19, 2011, 3:01 PM

I've seen the following questions asked on numerous occasions here on Tigernet: (1) "Who had the tradition of a football graveyard first?", (2) Who started this tradition at Clemson?" The most straightforward answer to the first question is FSU. However, there are some caveats when it comes to talking about graveyards and football that will be explained later.

First, let's talk about FSU's graveyard. From Wiki we see the following description of FSU's "sod cemetery".

"In 1962, the FSU football team captains returned to Tallahassee with a piece of the turf from Sanford Stadium after defeating Georgia 18–0 in Athens. The turf was presented to Dean Coyle E. Moore who founded the tradition of the sod game.

The sod cemetery began when the first piece of sod was buried in the corner of the Florida State practice field and a monument was placed to commemorate the road victory. In the early years, FSU only snipped grass when it won by upset on the road. But as the Seminoles became more successful, the criteria changed. Sod games still represent road games won when FSU is a significant underdog, however, all bowl games are now considered sod games as well as landmark road wins no matter who was favored. Each piece of sod is buried in the cemetery next to the practice field and a tombstone is placed above it with the score and date of the game."

FSU has compiled at least 75 such significant victories. They use "flat" headstones to mark their victories. This is in contrast to Clemson who uses "upright" headstones to mark road win victories over top ranked football opponents. It is not clear whether or not there are a total of 75 headstones in the sod cemetery. Some of FSU's victories, celebrated in their cemetery, have been vacated by the NCAA due to various violations. The headstones associated with the vacated victories remain in the sod cemetery.

With regard to Clemson's "victory graveyard" we have the following excerpt from a Clemson University website:

"Clemson has garnered 57 wins over AP-ranked teams over the years, but some wins stand out. Winning over a ranked team in Death Valley is one thing, but gaining victory over a ranked team on an opponent’s home field is an extraordinary accomplishment. To document these victories, Clemson has constructed a “Graveyard” at the entrance to the Clemson practice fields behind the Jervey Athletic Center".

There is no specific information provided on the founding date of the "victory graveyard". However, the following description is generally accepted as the story behind Clemson's first tombstone.

Much was made of the FSU's 1988 "puntrooskie" victory over Clemson and the sod the FSU captains took from the playing field of Death Valley for use in their sod cemetery. Well, the next year in 1989, Danny Ford took his Tigers to Tallahassee and beat the ranked Seminoles 34-23. The team took sod from the playing field of FSU's Doak Campbell stadium. Danny Ford had his own graveyard constructed near the Clemson practice field. He had an upright headstone placed making FSU the first recognized victim. The captured FSU sod was planted below the tombstone. Clemson does not take sod for purposes of planting it in the victory graveyard. FSU was the first and only victim whose sod was taken as it was payback for their 1988 act.

Now for the caveats I mentioned previously:

Clemson has always had a graveyard overlooking Memorial Stadium. Clemson's Woodland Cemetery, as it is now known, sits atop "Cemetery Hill" at a high elevation with a valley below. In the valley sits Clemson's "Death Valley" stadium. Woodland Cemetery was originally the family cemetery of famous South Carolina politician John C. Calhoun. In 1837 his infant grandson was the first to be buried on Cemetery Hill. It continued to be used for years as the family cemetery with 16 more Calhoun family members being buried there. Clemson president as well as Tiger football founder Walter Riggs helped to establish a faculty cemetery on Cemetery Hill through his suggestion to the Board of Trustees in 1922. Two years later the Board of Trustees created Woodland Cemetery. Ironically, Walter Riggs became the first faculty member interned in "Woodland Cemetery" near members of the Calhoun family. The massive south upper deck addition of Death Valley stadium now conceals portions of Cemetery Hill as viewed from the valley.

From Wiki:

"The term "Death Valley" comes from the fact that the field is physically situated in a valley. But two additional facts also add to the mystique. First, the university cemetery sits on a hill that once overlooked the field before the upper decks were constructed. The other reference comes from the late Lonnie McMillian, the former football coach at Presbyterian College. He told sports writers in 1948 that he had "to take his team up to Clemson and play in death valley" where they rarely scored or gained a victory. The nickname stuck to an extent, but when Clemson Head Coach Frank Howard started calling it that in the 1950s, the nickname really caught on. The nickname was solidified when Frank Howard received what came to be known as "Howard's Rock" from an alumnus, S.C. Jones, who had picked it up in Death Valley, California."

You be the judge. Who had a cemetery associated with football first....

Message was edited by: ClemBert® for spelling, grammar, etc.

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Football tombstone graveyard: Story behind who was first.

Thanks for posting

Who thought Graveyards & tombstones would be so awesome

Think FSU doesn't have the same specifications / limitations

Thx for the post, good information***

Re: Football tombstone graveyard: Story behind who was first.

Point for the research, great post.***

Why is the score from the 2005 game so far off center to the

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